Been practicing for the commercial maneuvers in the C182RG. A lot of power-off 180 approaches—this is an emergency maneuver to see if you can land the plane with precision, without engine power. Fly the pattern, and when the plane is abeam the numbers, pull the engine back to idle. Try to land the plane within 50 feet of the numbers with no power.
The problem for me is that compared to the 172s, the 182s feel a lot more nose heavy on the landings. It seems to take a lot more pressure on the yoke to get the nose flared properly for the landing. Not to mention the fact that the different "sight-picture" is really messing with my timing. The upshot is that I'm consistently either flaring too high (and dropping the plane a little more than I would like), or I'm flaring too late and am landing flat. Either way, not very pretty.
I struggled with learning how to land the 172s during the primary training. It feels like that all over again. Didn't think going up to a 182 would make that much of a difference — it is a Cessna after all, and not that much bigger.
I need to go back up with the 182s some more to get a better feel for the plane.
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